Brushing machine



Nov. 23, 1943. R. F. KNIGHT BRUSHING MACHINE Filed Nov. 21, 1941 @(wvmvzaw KW- v. 1.

Patented Nov. 23, 1943 UNITED T 0mg;

. c v Ban am l Ralph" R Knight) fieverlygiMass z' assignor to a United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Fleming? ton N. J ;a corporation of N evvJcrsey {Applicant This invention. relates to, brushing machines and more particularly to machines utilizing coacting brushes for removing dust from the op-l posed surfaces of tanned hides and skins.

Brushingmachinesfor the, treatment r skins to remove the dust therefromjare subject to the disadvantage that after a periodof use there is a decided tendency for skins. Even'if the brushes arevenclosed in a suction hood, the air currentsare carried around theperipheriesof the rotatablebrushes without disturbing the dust which has ties or fwhichma y be held there by stati ri ty." 1

nccordinglyfan object of; the invention is to provide an improved brushing 'machine which will be simpleyinexpensive' to manufacture and more efficient. f "I By making the brushesfwithjspac'ed rows of bristles or the like and driving these brushes in such a fixed reiation thatthe rows of bristles I thedust particles to stick a to the brushes and to be redeposited uponfthe settledon the bris-. c eleo- IV -IVin, Fig.

of one brush intermesh with the rowsiof bristles ofthe other brush I obtain a fluttering pryibrating action of the skins-Which tends to loosen I the dust left on the surface thereof after buffing orthe like and to render iteasier to removeall ofthisdust. 1 7 p In orderjto obtain greater" cleanliness in the brushes themselves and to overcome the tendency for these brushes to hold-'dustremoved from the skin, I provide, in accordance with features of the invention, a brush construction" in Which strips of brush elements are mounted on a hollow cylinder having openingsbetweenthe rows of bristles; .As a result, the centrifugal force setup by the rotation of'the brushes causes the air sucked in atthe open ends of the brushes i to be thrown out through these'openings, through thebristles and thence directly againstthe-surface of the skin. In order to make this action more uniform along the length of'th'e brush; these openings increasein size as they approach the I midportion thereof. i

As herein shown, a casing is' provided which surrounds the brushes and which contains reversely curved vanes or bailies arranged to reverse the air currents set up' by the rotation of the brushes and to turn them back toward the suction outlet. Asillustratedalso, thisbasingfis made in two parts, each carrying oneof the brushes, and the twoparts are relatively adjustable to permit change in the intermeshing relation of the brushes, at the same-time keeping eenter 21, 1g '1 sen 1-Nq; 419,319

Claims. trellis-21 f I reach brush in predetermined desired relation "tothe associated baflles.

, v Theseand other features of theinvention will best be understood from the consideration of the following specification takenin connection with the accompanying drawingQin which .Fig. 1 is a plan'vi'ew of a port on of two brushes in which the brush; velements are arranged in double-helical or herringbone rows;

an end portion of the casing broken away;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of a portion'bf a brush strip and an adjacent slot taken along the section line III-{11in Fig. 1; and i v Fig. eis'a' similar view takenfalongjthe line Rotary, ubstantially'ecylindricalbrushes l0 and "were mounted upon parallel shafts 22, 24' witha casing' having curved parts l4 and lB which aresupportedjupon a frame l8 having rigid legs 'Eil'on the'upper end of which and in the casing the'shaft 22 0f the brush I9 is mounted. Normally, these brushes mesh with one another withman intermediate zone. In Fig. 2, mostof the near en'dwalls l3, lb of the casings arebroken away. On its otherside the frame is supported g Theshaft 24 of upon another pair of legs 23.

thebrushlE' is journaled n swinging arms 26 pivoted on a'bearing block 28 on the frame I8.

[5 which is attached to these The casing part arms is arranged for adjustment toward and away from the casing'part or more screws 30 so'that the dista'ncebetween the two brush axes may be adjustably dete-1- mined for a purpose which will later appear. The a brushesare rotated in opposite directions by chain-and-sprocket"drives 32 and 34 which are maintained in fixed relation by a pair of gears 35 t'owhich' powe'r is delivered-from any suitable 7 source (not shown) by means of achain 38. A3 a consequence, any row of bristles on'one brush will always be received in aspace between adja "cent rowsof bristles on the other brush, and therev Q will be no end-t'o-end contact of the bristles. A suction outlet 49 at-the bottom of the casing parts 'and-supportedby the frame 18 may be connected removal of the dust.

to a-suction 'fan if-it'is desired to accelerate the Q In presenting work such as a skin S to the machine, one edge is held'in the operators hand 43 end the other edge is introduced in an entrance opening Q2 provided betweentwo rounded edges 64 of the opposite casings adjacent tothe meshing'zone of the brushes and is drawn in to the machine-between the downwardly moving sur- Fig. 2 is an end elevation or the'machine with I4 by means of one faces of the oppositely rotating brushes. The

operator then pulls the skin against the action of the brushes and draws it out of the machine.

After this the skin is reversed and the untreated portion of the skin is introduced and withdrawnin a similar manner.

Only four rows of bristles have been shown on each of the cylindrical brushes but this is wholly for the sake of simplifying the patent drawing, and it should be understood that any desired number of rows of brush strips may be utilized so long as suiiicient space is left between adjacent rows so that the strips upon the opposing brushes may intermesh. Furthermore, in the illustrated construction the brush strips are dis-.. posed in the form of a double-helical or herringaxis so as thereby to ob-tain a'fan action as the.

brush rotates. .The end rings of the spider are joined by parallel transverse bars i to which plates 82 spaced toprovid'e'intermediate openings such as the slots 54. Each platecarries, along one edge,a brush st rip 5 5. Each brush strip ismade up of arow of bristles orv equivalent parts held in a backing strip 58. ,The particular brush strip herein shown is disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No.'2,302,761, granted Noveinber Z-i, 1942, upon an application in the name of William Go-oclhue, and which is assigned to the assignee of this application. However, any similar brush strip might be utilized to make up of. a cylindrical brush of the type shown. As a matter of convenience, in the double-helical, herringbone brush illustrated in the drawing, the plates 52' extend only to the center of the brush. The design of these plates is such that theslots 54 or any other suitable perforations are much larger near-the center of the brush than they are atthe ends, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 where the sections are taken nearthe center and near an end respectively. As a result, the currents of air sucked in through the ends and thrown'out through the bristles by centriiugalforce will be equalized along the length of the brush. 7

In order to adjust the angular relation of the rows of bristles on thetwo brushes, when setting up the machine or when replacing one of the brushes, provision is made in the brush H; for

angular adjustment of the brush with respect to its shaft. .This is accomplished by providing flanges 53 (Fig, 1) at each end of, the brush in which are threaded bolts .62 extending through slots 64 (Fig. 2) in the face of a pair of flanged collars 68 and 138 which are'held on the shaft 24 by means of set screws. This makes it possible to adjust the brush" around its shaft 24 without disturbing the drive chains, one of which is placed around a sprocket T9 secured to the collar 66. This is a matter which becomesof greater importance as the number of rows of brush ele ments is increased.

During the rotation of the brushes at substantial speeds, currents of air will be, carried along with the peripheries of the brushes and will in'a may bev secured, as'by welding thereon, thin measure interfere with the action of the air drawn in through the entrance 42 and out through the suction outlet 49. Accordingly, curved vanes or baffles 12 have been positioned between the end plates of the casing members l4 and I6 and have been disposed in such a Way close to the periphery of the brush that the air drawn around frictionally by the rotating brush will be reversed and caused to pass out through a. series of similar openings such as that between the tail portion 14 of one battle and the curved portion 16 of the next baflle into the space between the baflies and the casing and thence into the suction outlet 40.

As one-half of a skin S is dropped into the entranceopening 42 it will be caught by the brushes and drawn into the casings until stopped by the operator and pulled backward. During this time the half portion of the skin which is being treated will be not only brushed in the customary fashion but will also be subjected to the repeated blows of rows of bristles upon opposite faces of the portion between the brushes pushing the skin first one Way and then the other into the spaces between rows on the opposite bristles. This will'cause the skin to vibrate 0r flutter and therefore it is subjected to somewhat the same sort of an action as when an operator shakes it in the open air as he would a rug. The extent of the beating or fluttering action, which is somewhatexaggerated in Fig. 2, will be controlled by adjusting the screw 30 without thereby varying the relation between the brush l2 and the adjacentbaflles 12. At thesame time the skin will be subjected to a'blast of air, forced out through the slots 54 by centrifugalaction, which will pass through the bristles radially and impin'ge upon the surface of the skin. Furthermore, the currents of air carried around'bythe, brushes will be reversed by the baflie plates and caused to travel more readily toward the exhaust outlet 40 so that the size of fan which is required for the suction may be cut down.

That method of cleaning which may be carried out with the use of the above-described machine is not claimed herein since it forms the subjectmatter of a divisional application, Serial No. 455,762, filed August 22,1942.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

. 1. In a brushing machine, a rotary brush having intercommunicating end and peripheral openings, the area of said peripheral openings per unit of length of the brushincreasing from the ends toward the midportion of the brush.

2. Ina brushing machine, a cylindrical brush comprising a cylindrical support mounted for rotation and having end openings, spaced brush elements secured to the periphery of the said support, openings through said support along said brush elements, said openings being larger adjacentto the midportion of the length of the brush.

3. In a brushing machine, a cylindrical brush comprising a spider mountedfor rotation about an axis of thecylinder, plates attached to said spider and extending from an end toward a midportion of said brush, said plates having brush strips secured along a narrow margin adjacent to corresponding edges of successive plates and disposed generally lengthwise of the brush, said plates being spaced to provide slots, adjacent to the brush strips, tapered lengthwise of the brush.

4. In a. brushing machine, a cylindrical brush comprising a spider mounted for rotation about an axis of the cylinder, plates attached to said spider extending from an end toward a midportion of said brush, said plates having strip brushes adjacent to corresponding edges of the plates, and which strip brushes intersect all planes normal to the axis of the brush within its length, said plates .being spaced to provide slots wider at the midportion of the brush than at the end.

5. In a brushing machine, coacting brushes disposed upon parallel axes and meshing with each other along a limited zone, a casing surrounding said brushes having an opening adjacent to the meshing zone of the brushes, a suction opening disposed upon the other side of the casing away from the entrance opening, and curved baflle plates supported in the casing adjacent to the periphery of the brush and spaced from the inner surface of the casing, the curvature of said plates tending to reverse the direction of movement of the air carried around by the brushes.

6. In a machine for treating hides and skins, a

cylindrical treating member for engagement with a piece of leather, a casing partly surrounding the treating member, and stationary dust-deflecting vanes extending lengthwise of said treating member, said'vanes being disposed with an edge adjacent'to the periphery of said member and curved therefrom outwardly and rearwardly with respect to the rotation of said membenth other edge of each vane beingspaced from the inner surface of the casing.

'7. In 'a'brushing machine, coacting cylindrical brushes oppositely rotatable upon parallel shafts, casing members partially surrounding ;said brushes, means for supporting one of said casing members and one of said brushes for movement together to control the space between the brushes, and baflie plates in said movable, casing member maintained in fixed relation to the periphery of the brush regardless of the adjustment 0! the casing member. 1

RALPH F. KNIGHT. 

